Gausman's deal felt a lot like a salary dump. To put Schoop in perspective, if he were a free agent this offseason I think he would get a $100M+ deal. He is an All-Star level talent and even thought he return was decent I think the issue here is that he is actually way undervalued. To be honest, I expected more. I fully thought that trading those two guys would have brought us 2-3 of (Ortiz, Peralta, Burnes, Anderson, Riley, Gohara, Toussant) and at least one other top prospect. If the Orioles use international money and lock up Gaston and VVM I will feel a lot better of dealing for international money. But why are we taking less of a return to eat O'Day' salary?

Honestly.... I don't know why teams pay so much for mediocre and slightly above average arms out of the pen. My failed starters would be my reliever pool. There needs to be a balance of well established major leaguers and prospects. The Orioles will deplete the farm system trying to find future established major leaguers and not have the system to repopulate prospects unless they throw heavy money into the amateur and international markets. I don't want to lose sight on the Orioles possibly getting VVM and a top 2 pick in the MLB draft. If you factor that in the Orioles turned their minors around a good bit in 2018, but the on the filed product is so empty.

I think VVM COULD be one of those prospects and Ortiz is a solid prospect, but I would have expected one of the Braves top minor league arms and another quality prospect. I kind of feel like the Orioles felt obligated to make these deals for some reason. Must be pressure from the board to cut payroll.